Paul Clarke, Author at North West End UK

Casting announced for world premiere of David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People

21May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Casting announced for world premiere of David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People

Pitlochry Festival Theatre have announced Nicholas Karimi and Kirsty Stuart will star in the world stage premiere of David Greig’s new play, Adventures with the Painted People. Greig’s first play since 2013’s The Events will open at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 10th June to 4th July as part of their outdoor Summer Season. Karimi plays Lucius who is a cultured Roman officer, captured by the Picts and about to be sacrificed. Stuart is Eithne, a wise Pictish woman, who wants to record her people's history in writing, a skill they do not yet have. She makes a deal where she will rescue Lucius in exchange for him teaching her to write. So, they must flee - not by road, the Romans have not built those yet - but down river. Performed in the theatre’s outdoor amphit...

Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse

13May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse kick off their 50th anniversary celebrations and reopen the doors with six short monologues written by a mix of new and experienced writers. Decades: Stories From The City takes a particular decade from across the Playhouse’s lifespan covering the 1970s to the 2020s, tracing how their home city has changed over that time. As this is their first set of shows after lockdown the Playhouse have also recruited a strong cast of directors, including Leeds Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining who is joined in the rehearsal spaces by Associate Director Amy Leach and RTYDS Resident Assistant Director Sameena Hussain, Evie Manning of Common Wealth Theatre and Theatre State’s Tess Seddon. The hugely experienced Amanda Huxtable directs Leanna Benjamin’s The Unknown...

Casting announced for Decades: Stories from the city at Leeds Playhouse

10May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Casting announced for Decades: Stories from the city at Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse has announced the six actors who will perform in their Decades: Stories from the city season as they reopen their doors for their 50th anniversary celebrations. They will perform short monologues by a heavyweight group of writers including Poet Laureate Simon Armitage who will be joined by Leanna Benjamin, Kamal Kaan, Alice Nutter, Maxine Peake and Stan Owens. All the writers have strong connections to the Playhouse, so have each taken a particular decade from across the Playhouse’s lifespan covering the 1970s to the 2020s tracing the city’s changes over that time. Isobel Coward will star in Alice Nutter’s Nicer Than Orange Squash, Eva Scott is in Maxine Peake’s Don’t You Know It’s Going To Be Alright and Cassie Layton performs Kamal K...

David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People gets its stage premiere

9May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People gets its stage premiere

David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People which started life as a radio play makes its stage debut at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. It was first commissioned as part of Pitlochry’s cancelled 2020 season and subsequently became a radio play on BBC Radio 3. Now it’s set to have its world stage première from 10th June to 4th July in the theatre’s outdoor amphitheatre as part of their Summer Season. Greig’s first new play since 2013’s The Events will be directed by Pitlochry’s Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman, and is a love story exploring the value of history and the power of writing. Lucius is a cultured Roman officer captured by the Picts and about to be sacrificed. Eithne is a wise Pictish woman, who wants to record her people's history in writing - a skill ...

Tennis Elbow – Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

2May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

REVIEWS

Tennis Elbow – Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

The good folk of the Nitshill Writing Circle have gathered together to eulogise the life of writer and painter Pamela Crichton Capers, but the conceit of John Byrne’s first play for 13 years is that their late mentor’s career is one of utter mediocrity at best. This is a companion piece with a gender twist to Byrne’s seventies hit show Writer’s Cramp that explored the life of another mediocrity Frances Seneca McDade. Fans of that earlier work will relish his fleeting appearances in this radio play produced by Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh as part of their Sound Stage season. Byrne traces Pam’s life story from her early days as a pretentious schoolgirl in a crummy religious boarding school where we are treated to one of her dreadful poems, and the veteran pla...

Scottish legend John Byrne is back with new radio play Tennis Elbow

26Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Scottish legend John Byrne is back with new radio play Tennis Elbow

In 1977 the hottest ticket at the Edinburgh Festival was comedy drama Writer’s Cramp by new Scottish writer John Byrne and the three-hander went on to be a hit in London. It was the riotous tale of Frances Seneca McDade, who is being remembered by the Nitshill Writing Circle, and they seem oblivious that despite his public school swagger their mentor ended up being an utter mediocrity in all his many artistic endeavours. Now Bryne has returned to Paisley for a new radio play, Tennis Elbow, as the writing group gather once again to remember the life of McDade’s estranged wife Pamela played by Kirsty Stuart. “Tennis Elbow is the life story of a writer and artist as she makes her way through life and all of the characters that she meets on the way, the struggles that she has,” says K...

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and Maxine Peake pen monologues for new season at Leeds Playhouse

15Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and Maxine Peake pen monologues for new season at Leeds Playhouse

Yorkshire’s Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and Maxine Peake have written brand new monologues as part of Leeds Playhouse’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The Playhouse will be welcoming audiences back next month for the first time since November with monologues written by six writers offering their own perspectives on Leeds and the north playing in the Courtyard Theatre as Decades: Stories from the city. Leanna Benjamin, Kamal Kaan, Alice Nutter, Stan Owens, Peake and Armitage have each taken a particular decade from across the Playhouse’s lifespan covering the 1970s to today offering a diverse collection of stories firmly rooted in the North. Leeds Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining, Associate Director Amy Leach and RTYDS Resident Assistant Director Sameena Hussain will be...